OBESITY CLUE IN VIEW

Abstract

WITH X-RAY CRYSTALLOGRAPHY, researchers have determined the structure of FTO (fat-mass and obesity-associated protein), an enzyme that removes methyl groups from DNA and RNA and that has been linked with an increased risk of obesity. The structure suggests an explanation for the enzyme’s choice of substrates and could help researchers develop small molecules to address questions about its activity. In some groups of people, adults with specific variations in the gene for FTO are heavier than similar people with the normal FTO gene. And inactivating FTO in mice makes the animals leaner. But it’s not clear how the enzyme is connected to metabolism and body mass. FTO eschews double-stranded nucleic acids in favor of single-stranded substrates. Its exact sites of action in the body remain a mystery. Now, a team led by Jijie Chai of the National Institute of Biological Sciences and Tsinghua University, both in China, has probed FTO’s specificity ( Nature, DOI:10.1038/nature08921). In ...